English Civil War, Absolutism, and the Glorious Revolution: Key Concepts and Figures in Early Modern England and Europe

Absolutism

A form of government where political power is concentrated in the hands of a monarch, without being constrained by laws or other governing bodies.

Constitutional government

A system where the power of the monarch is limited by the rule of law and shared with the Parliament.

Divine right of kings

The doctrine that a monarch's authority comes directly from God, making the king infallible and rebellion a challenge to divine will.

Charles I's belief in divine right

Led to conflict with the House of Commons, as he believed he could exercise absolute power, including seizing land at will.

Primary causes of the English Civil War

Absolutism vs. constitutionalism, religious divide (Puritan reform vs. royal Catholic ties), and economic strains from war debts and unauthorized royal spending.

Oliver Cromwell

A Puritan parliamentarian who led the New Model Army, decisively defeating the royalist forces and capturing Charles I.

The Protectorate

The republic established in England from 1653 to 1659, with Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector; it was essentially a military dictatorship.

Charles I's fate

He was tried for treason, found guilty, and beheaded.

Glorious Revolution

The event (1688-1689) when James II fled and William and Mary assumed the English throne without bloodshed, marking the end of the divine right doctrine in England.

Key provisions of the English Bill of Rights (1689)

Only Parliament may levy taxes; royal veto abolished; Parliament's laws cannot be overturned by the king; it limited royal power and safeguarded Parliament.

Key innovations of the Agricultural Revolution

Rotating grain with potatoes & clover, eliminating fallow periods; the seed drill (Jethro Tull) for precise spacing and soil covering; the mechanical hoe for efficient weed removal.

The Columbian Exchange

Introduced new crops like potatoes and beans to Europe, which eventually became staple foods due to their high nutritional value and productivity.

Putting-out system

How cottage industries operated, where merchants supplied raw materials to workers who produced finished goods in their homes.

Mercantilism

A state-driven economic system (16th-18th c.) focused on accumulating gold and silver via a favorable balance of trade, with state control of prices, production, and trade policies.

Key policies of mercantilism

Included: Exporting more than importing to bring gold/silver into the country; Colonial exploitation to extract raw materials and sell back manufactured goods; Navigation Acts to ensure colonial trade benefitted the mother country.

Triangular trade

A global trade system involving: 1. Europe → Africa: Exported guns, textiles for enslaved Africans. 2. Africa → Americas: The Middle Passage - forced transport of enslaved people. 3. Americas → Europe: Exported cotton, tobacco, sugar back to Europe.

Governance of the Dutch Republic

Governed by provincial estates (domestic policy) and the federal States General (foreign policy), with a Stadholder as a ceremonial head and military commander.

Balance of power in Europe

The principle of preventing any single power from dominating Europe, maintained through diplomacy, building large standing armies, and forming alliances based on dynastic interests.

Example of maintaining the balance of power

The Partition of Poland (1772-1795) where Russia, Prussia, and Austria divided Polish territory to eliminate Poland as an independent state.

Key military developments

Included: Shift from ad-hoc levies to professional standing armies; Innovations by Gustavus Adolphus (Sweden) in army organization and tactics; Improved firearms, mobile cannons, and advanced fortifications.

Impact of military developments on balance of power

Nations with modernized militaries were better positioned to protect or expand their influence, reinforcing the balance of power.

Factors contributing to rise of absolutist rulers

Included: Weakening of the Church (Reformation, Westphalia); Economic changes (global trade, merchant class); Monarchs creating state apparatus directly answerable to them.

Example of absolutist monarchs

Louis XIV (France): Centralized administration, revoked Edict of Nantes; Peter the Great (Russia): Westernized army, civil service, imposed cultural reforms (e.g., beard tax).